The eight members of the Western Climate Initiative, WCI, today announced that they have established a regional goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the West to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. By defining the goal before the end of August, WCI members met the timetable they set when the organization was created in February.

On February 26, the governors of Washington, Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Oregon created the Western Climate Initiative. Since then, the state of Utah and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba have joined the WCI.

The WCI membership cuts across party lines including Republican and Democratic governors as well as Canadian premiers from the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party.

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire said, "In the absence of federal leadership, states and provinces have stepped up to meet the challenge of global climate change. We are working together to agree on common goals that will reduce our region's contribution to the problem while recognizing the states' individual goals. In Washington, we are committed to meeting the challenge and seizing the opportunities presented by climate change."